Nordstrom invests in digital; acquires two retail tech companies

By

Robin Driver

Published
Mar 9, 2018

Seattle-based department store chain Nordstrom announced on Thursday that it has acquired digital retail companies BevyUp and MessageYes as part of its continued efforts to integrate technology across its business and improve customer experience.
 

“We're investing in providing our salespeople with a mobile suite of capabilities that enables them to be relevant, informative and accessible to our customers,” explained Brian Gill, technology senior vice president at Nordstrom, in a release.
 
BevyUp is an existing Nordstrom partner and is best known for its development of an innovative digital platform that facilitates communication between sales associates while also encouraging shoppers to share information and browse items together online.

This tool will be incorporated into a new integrated mobile Nordstrom employee app to be rolled out later this year.
 
“BevyUp was founded on the simple idea that retailers could develop meaningful connections with their customers. We've helped revolutionize the customer experience by extending a salesperson's relationships beyond the confines of brick-and-mortar stores. Becoming a part of the Nordstrom team gives us the opportunity to take our combined efforts even farther,” stated Mauricio Cuevas, founder and CEO of BevyUp.
 
MessageYes’ platform is rooted in conversational commerce, allowing brands to text their customers, and utilizing artificial intelligence and integrated payment technology to streamline and personalize consumer experience.
 
“Nordstrom has succeeded in building emotional relationships with their customers – creating connections that go well beyond a transaction. When we started MessageYes, that's exactly what we wanted to do. Joining Nordstrom enables us to take a lot of our concepts and integrate them across all of the channels Nordstrom uses to serve customers,” commented Dave Cotter, founder and CEO of MessageYes.
 
The two deals are the latest steps in Nordstrom’s strategy to create a seamlessly integrated experience for its consumers across its retail platforms, while also ensuring that services are accurately targeted and personalized.
 
“The retail environment is changing faster than ever, but the value of service, speed, convenience and newness remain constant,” said Gill. “To continue to be successful into the future, we need to invest in technologies that will enable us to deliver on those qualities and better serve customers in a digitally-connected world.”
 
As e-commerce continues to shake up the retail sector, many traditional retailers are investing heavily in products and services that leverage technology to prioritize customer experience. This has resulted in a number of big industry names coming up with a wide range of solutions, from French sporting goods company Decathlon’s in-store technology drive to Barney’s recently released immersive VR experience Mantle.
 
Nordstrom did not provide information concerning the financial terms of the transactions.